And then a second....

Blogging online will get easier I'm sure. Just like with anything, practice makes perfect; proves you incapable; or drives you mad. Which will it be for me? Who knows.

As the title suggest, I am an artist. I have been drifting around aimlessly up till now. I settled on Jewelry design four semesters ago at ETSU. Before that I wasn't just some bum :-) I worked hard, very hard. Right out of high school I went to work in the local factories and dove into college hoping to better myself and escape the small town I lived in. That was 10 years ago. Wow, 10 years went by fast. So there I was, working 2nd shift 6 days a week, and taking 15 credit hours at the college for general college transfer. I was not happy to say the least. Being an artist, I wanted classes that I could be creative in. Math, English and Science came easy and bored the hell out of me. Then I thought that the graphics design course was the answer. I switched.

I achieved a degree in graphics design 2 years later but could not find work where I was living. I continued to work at the factories struggling with what direction I should go in next. Sure the money was good where I worked. Bringing home $600+ a week was nothing to sneeze at, but I was to worn out all the time from working 48 hours a week and going to school. I went back to school to pick up additional classes to finish off college transfer. I thought transferring would be the answer. Getting out of that small town was all I could think about. I wasn't completely dead set on transferring though. The thoughts of moving scared me. Hell, the thought of wasting away in a small town working the rest of my life was even scarier. The people you meet and stories you hear in the factories are enough to scare anyone who wants a better life away.

Finally, everything was too much. Relationship issues, family issues, work and school related stresses and personal stress did me in. I was bed ridden for two weeks unable to do anything but watch TV. So I watched, and watched, and watched. Day after day I watched shows that discussed and talked about 17 year olds and successful people who were making a lot of money and seemed happy.

"What do they have that I don't?" was the thing I asked myself. I was intelligent, quick, learned everything I could. At the end of two weeks I rose out of bed with the answer. Drive, direction, motivation. With these answer, I packed everything up, left my $600+ a week job, my fiance of four years, my family, and moved. I had many options, like SCAD, and Art Institute of Atlanta, and a few other art colleges that I had been accepted too. I chose East Tennessee State University. The price seemed to be within my limits. I ended up in Johnson City, TN. I started my classes in digital media and computer arts that fall, met some people who changed my life, and gave me a new direction. It was a totally new and exciting world for me. I loved it.

Something was missing though. Something was happening to my passion for the computer arts and I was becoming more interested in the fine arts. After two semesters of struggling with what I was wanting to do, I switched to the BFA degree. Studio arts was now my direction. The only decision I had left was in what area I would concentrate. Should I be a painter, sculpture, potter, or a photographer. All were appealing to me.
Then I discovered Metal Smithing and Jewelry Design. Wow, I fell in love all over again. Four semesters later I am still in love and pushing forwards.

At times I still look back. It's been a very difficult transition for me, filled with hard decisions, lost loves, friends left behind. I wonder a little now and then what would it have been like if I had stuck with graphic design, or digital media. I ponder a little if I still have any passion left for Digital media. I'm still surprisingly knowledgeable and creative in the computer arts. I do work comparable to the graduates at ETSU. So it is hard to not look back, or even think about maybe finishing up the digital media. :-) Especially since I just met some of the women at my new job that are taking classes in DM.